I was very surprised by the fact I didn't enjoy this more, but then I didn't grow up in love with Cabot's Princess Diaries or her Mediator series. To be truthful I haven't read any of Cabot's books aside from the two books she did as part of Avon's "True Romance" historical young adult romance series. So I wasn't pre-disposed to be like 'omg Cabot!'. I am a fan of the Persephone myth and love reading different variations on that myth, so that excited me.

Except this isn't really about Persephone and Hades and the Underworld so much as the characters/events bare a resemblance to the bare bones of that tale. Pierce (Persephone) is the daughter of a hot-tempered CEO (Zeus) and obsessive...not even an environmentalist, but someone who's obsessed with a certain kind of bird's habitat (Demeter?). Pierce died, sort of, a couple years back and now there's John (Hades) who is trying to bring her back.

I think?

Here's the main problem I had with Abandon. Pierce spends so much of the book not truly telling us anything that its hard to really grasp what she means to say. She doesn't even confirm her death until a good ways into the book so I felt really confused since the blurb makes it sound as if its the first thing we should know about her.

At times the knowledge that this was linked with the Persephone myth hampered my enjoyment value as well. On its own, if you don't try to tie the characters and motivations to that of the mythological counterparts its not so bad. Unfortunately Cabot throws little things at you that remind you of her inspiration. Which its only fair to point out, for a book based on a greek myth the main having the character hate mythology because she feels its 'pointless' is ridiculous.

Its with a sad heart I ended up not enjoying this. I wish I could have. I wish the book could have either divorced itself from the myth entirely or concentrated itself on being a reflection of that myth more securely. ( )

Main character hates history and mythology but literally is in a shitty retelling of Hades and Persephone.

That's our opener.

I don't know, Meg Cabot has had such a grip on the world for so many years. So. It's kind of fascinating when you reread them and realize she was very unhinged. In hindsight her books are wild. They're drinking games pioneering the future and here we are. Do I think Meg formed all of the abusive male protagonist in every book series? No. But do I think she definitely had a hand in the state of young audience books nowadays and how abusive they are? Yes.

She's a pioneer of pushing abusive romantic partners in romance literature upon teenagers.

Also Death is named John. I like it in concept, but it's wasted here.

I'll bet you're wondering, does he learn from his actions and become better like in Beauty and the Beast? No, he doesn't feel he needs to grow. There is no character growth. He doesn't become a better person.

"I want to fix him." Meg Cabot pioneering the future.

John is a big asshole and repeatedly Pierce thinks she can fix him.

"I have a boyfriend now, the God of death." Aaaaand abduction. Cool.

2 stars.

Honestly well-written but it would be way better and rated higher if we just removed John. Like take out John and this is a solid 3-3.5 star read. I loved the parts without him. ( )

This was a fun paranormal romance that was a little bit teeny, a little bit suspense, and quite fun.

I loved how Pierce kept a lot of details very ambiguous at the start. She continuously referred to the accident and various incidents that had occurred without explicitly detailing them, and this was an effective metaphor for her relationship and trust with John, the concept of the Furies, and her acceptance of what was happening.

I didn't understand the attraction between Pierce and John--in fact, when I started thinking about it, it became quite creepy as it mainly relied on one interaction from when Pierce had been rather young. I would have liked more characterization between them, and also between Pierce and some other people at her high school.

Additionally, there was a family dynamic that added to the entire plot line, and this put everything a little bit over the top--it wasn't quite necessary to make things as complicated as they were.

There was a mystery and some intrigue that kept me guessing and was fun, though ultimately quite sad, to figure out.

The Inferno theme was a little overdone. Though I'm usually a sucker for mythology, I don't feel that its presence here added much to the book.

Overall though, this was a great book to lose myself in. I really enjoyed reading it and recommend it to anyone looking for a fun and fluffy book. ( )

I really enjoyed this book more than I thought after seeing all the low ratings. I am going to continue with this series. ( )

Want a love story that is not riddled with gender stereotypes and plagued by bad writing? Don't read this. Instead read Arrows, by Melissa Gorzelanczyk: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20734033-arrows

It's got myth, it's got love triangles, and it's got Gods. And it's way better than this sad book.

( )